Thursday, June 25, 2015

Objective:
The IMF has made it clear that their current goal in Greece is not
a budgetary surplus as such, but a surplus achieved by cutting
pensions by 25%. And they will accept no substitutes. The IMF either
does not want a working agreement with the Greek government, or is
serving the interests of some specific financial group. Informative:
“GDP does not
measure the economic elements that directly impact the quality of
life of its citizens.” The
Stable:
Disposing of the Confederate battle flag is a minor side issue, long
overdue but not particularly vital and useful only to those who want
to divert our attention from the
real task: defending and expanding voting rights, reforming our
criminal justice system, and addressing the
systematic evils of our economic system.

Here's
Booby!Louisiana's Bobby
Jindal has bought a ticket for the Republican Clown Car. Details,
Devil:“The
Trans-Pacific Partnership... would transform world trade
governance in ways that are hard to predict.”Modern
Art: The MOMA
has long been dedicated to conning patrons into believing what
they're told and not their lying eyes. Now MOMA director Glenn Lowry
has conned the board into giving him a 15% pay increase, to $2.1
million. Part of the increase was in recognition of his efforts to
force employees to pay more for their health benefits. Lowry gets,
among other bennies, free housing. The Met, which exhibits real art,
pays it's honcho only $1.3 million.

Because
They Can: the
default setting for Google's Chromium web browser turns on your
computer's microphone and lets Google eavesdrop on everything said
near the computer.

If
Only: Canada's
Alberta has passed a bill that bans both corporate and union
donations to politicians, forcing them to go out and meet actual
voters and pretend that they matter. Cash
Cows: The
White House brags that Uncle Sam collects $1.23 on every dollar it
lends to students. Odd thing to be proud of. Porn
O'Graph: The
geography
of hate.

2 comments:

McMike
said...

re: slave graph. Not to quibble, but is that really a map of hatred? It's a map of evil to be sure (if you accept that dichotomy). It's a map of inhumanity and arrogance. But hatred is too good a word; hatred assumes that the slave owners accorded their slaves enough humanity to hate them. I mean, does a rancher hate his cattle?

Caveat: it may correlate to a map of hatred intensity now though. Is that what you meant?

On a technical, note, I am curious about the underlying factors that created the bunching. For example, why is there a swath concentrated across central AL/MS/GA? Is that the cotton belt? What was on the Texas Gulf coast?

On a different note. I am at the moment enjoying a sick bit of perverse fun imagining the heads exploding and veins popping across much of the south (and the internet) in response to the removal of confederate flags. It must be like how some people felt to see the nigras vote, or watching federal troops escorting colored schoolkids, except now on a huge dose of steroids from decades of stimulation of their lizard brains via hate radio and the web. all those cretins' minds blown like popcorn. (I choose to be amused at this moment, rather than contemplate the potential ramifications as the right wing's propensity to violent backlash asserts itself.)

Our Motto

Keep fightin' for freedom and justice, beloveds, but don't you forget to have fun doin' it. Lord, let your laughter ring forth. Be outrageous, ridicule the fraidy-cats, rejoice in all the oddities that freedom can produce. And when you get through kickin' ass and celebratin' the sheer joy of a good fight, be sure to tell those who come after how much fun it was.